Wherefore, poor wolf, not quash thyself, when lion’s next?
The lion turned, then, to the fox, and bade him share
The prey they’d seized; that they might make a meal, not spare.
The wily fox, low bowing with a reverence meet,
Said: “Sire, the ox your share is, for your breakfast treat.95
The ibex, then, will suffice for your midday lunch,
To serve as stop-gap in the interval of munch.
The hare a light repast will furnish ere you sleep;
The royal paunch from indigestion’s pains ’twill keep.”
The lion answered: “Well said, fox. Thou’rt justice’ self.